Month: January 2019

Michigan winters are ruthless. At any point in time, Michigan can get hit with snow, ice, rain, sleet, hail, cold winds, warm winds, or… All of them in one day! It’s around this time each year that the weather really begins to take it’s toll on us.

Unfortunately, winter isn’t just stressful on us; it’s stressful on our trees as well. And even though trees are dormant this time of year, they are not immune to damage caused by the cold, wet weather. The good news is you can be ready! Here are the top 5 ways to protect your trees from winter damage.

Wrap Your Trees

One of the biggest threats facing young, newly planted trees (or thin-barked trees) is sunscald. Sunscald occurs on cold winter days when the sun heats the bark up which starts activity. Once the sun is covered, the bark temperature drops significantly, killing any active tissue.

Wrapping your trees allows the bark temperature to stay consistent, protecting the tree from sunscald. Also, as an added bonus, tree wrapping eliminates a food source for hungry critters, and it protects against damage caused by salt and snowplows!

Apply Wilt Pruf

One of the keys to survival for trees during the winter months is water retention. One of the biggest threats your trees face this winter is water loss due to freezing cold winds, the frozen ground, or from salt. Wilt pruf is an anti-desiccant spray you can apply to your trees to aid in preventing transpiration caused by the weather. It’s a safe, all-natural way to protect your trees from winter damage.

Watch The Snow and Ice

While some snow is actually good for your trees, as it provides insulation, too much snow can cause damage. Heavy amounts of snow or ice can cause branches to bend and break, leaving healthy portions of the tree exposed to the elements. If it appears like snow or ice is weighing down parts of your tree, go outside with a shovel or broom and gently brush the snow off the branches, or break the ice.

Watch The Salt

As previously mentioned, retaining moisture is critical for your trees during the cold winter months. When spreading salt, be careful to apply only what is needed, where it is needed. Keep it on your walkway or driveway, and not in your grass or near your trees. You may also want to look at using an alternative de-icing salt (calcium chloride/magnesium) that will have less of an effect if it gets near your landscape.

Water When Possible

Although trees are dormant during winter, they still have some metabolic abilities that allow them to absorb water. Keep an eye on the weather, and if there are a couple days where there is warm weather (38 degrees or above), no snow, nor high winds in sight, you can go outside and water your trees. Make sure to water early on in the day, and water less than you would during the spring or summer. It will help!

Your Christmas tree, once the proud centerpiece of your holiday decor, now is dried up and useless… or is it? Don’t just throw it to the curb for the garbage truck. The least you could do for the object that brought you so much joy is to reuse it. Check out these clever ways to dispose of that old Christmas tree.

Use Your Christmas Tree for Firewood

The most obvious way to dispose of a Christmas tree, and the easiest, is to use it as firewood. Either toss it on your outdoor fire pit or cut it up into small logs that can fit in your fireplace. First, lop off all the branches then cut the logs into short segments. Needles make an excellent firestarter. But beware, dried needles burn extremely fast. If you burn too many at one time, your fire might get out of control!

Replant It

If you got a tree with its roots still intact then simply keep it alive until spring and replant your Christmas tree in your yard. It’s a great way to give back to the Earth and reduce your footprint on the environment. If you do it every year you’ll soon have a pine tree forest of holiday memories.

Use the Needles as Mulch

The biggest complaint about live Christmas trees is the mess it makes in your house. They may have been a pain to vacuum up, but pine needles make an excellent mulch. Cut the branches off and shake the needles into your garden or flower beds.

Use it as an Artifical Reef

Yes, this is actually a thing. If you own or have access to a pond or lake, then consider tossing the dead tree in. it will sink to the bottom and create a home/playground for fish. As it decomposes, algae will start to grow on it and act as a buffet, attracting all sorts of water animals. If you do not own the pond or lake please contact the owner or the local DNR for permission.

We hope these interesting tips from PPM Tree Service gave you some ideas about how to dispose of your unwanted Christmas tree. If you need any tree service done whether it’s tree removal or tree planting, think of PPM Tree Service. Call at (877) 454-8733 or leave us a message on our site.